Measurement of mercury concentration is needed for many quality control processes. Mercury is a common toxin located in many places from many sources.
A mercury analyzer known as a PA-2 Mercury Process Analyzer produced by Mercury Instruments of Germany was designed for continuous measurement of the concentration of mercury in industrial sewage water used by enterprises dedicated to burning of waste, thermal power plants, treatment facilities, etc. The mercury monitor contains: a sample preparation module where the preliminary oxidation of a sample with corresponding reagent takes place, a reduction module where mercury is reduced to an atomic state upon addition of a reducer; a gas exchange unit where elemental mercury is released from the liquid sample and comes into a carrier gas, and an analytical cell where the carrier gas delivers elemental mercury and where the amount of released mercury is determined via the atomic absorption method.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,957 discloses a device to monitor mercury emissions containing an input unit for a gas sample to be analyzed, a thermal atomizer where all mercury compounds dissociate to provide formation of elemental mercury, an analytical cell capable of being heated that considerably decreases the rate of oxidation of elemental mercury with dissociation products and matrix components. An atomic absorption spectrometer measures elemental mercury.
A mercury monitor of combustion gases known as an MERCEM300Z Mercury Analyzer produced by the firm Sick of Germany, consists of a sampling probe, a gas line, a sample input unit, a thermal atomizer, a analytical cell capable of being heated, a atomic absorption spectrometer and a return pump. Combustion gas is taken with a sampling probe and is transported to the input part of the monitor. Gas passes into a thermal atomizer where all mercury, irrespective of its form, in combustion gas is transformed into elemental form, and comes to an analytical cell where mercury concentration is determined by an atomic absorption spectrometer. A return pump is attached to the analytical cell exit. The thermal atomizer and the analytical cell temperature is 1000° C.
Such prior systems contain various limitations that an exemplary embodiment seeks to solve.